Seed-separator.



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H. L. GRAY.

SEED SEPARATOR. APPLICAT-IO'N FILED JULY 23. I917.

Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

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flail Jzwarzim Miro [d J. 5/ 9 ilin/ 2790 H .L.GRAY. SEED SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23 I917.

Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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H. L. GRAY.

SEED SEPARATOR.

APPLICAUGN FILED JULY 23. I911.

1 77,062 v Patented Aug. '27, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Wibiass 4. w B y/ 7 H.L.GRAY.

SEED SEPARATORi APPLICATIQN EILED JULY 23 i917.

1,277,062. Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

4 SHEETS- SHEET 4- {If Attanwy I iT D TATEsPATENT O C HAROLD LINE GRAY, oFcRAwFonnsv-Imn, IND A, Assrenon recesses REYNOLDS YTA'YLOR. COMPANY, or, GRAWFORDSVILLE, INDIANA, A conronerro v or I DI A.

SEED-SEPARATOR.

1,277,062.. I Original applicati pn filed n y 17'; 1917, sar

To. all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD L; GRAY, a citizen of the United States,*residing at Crawfoi' dsvilldin the county of Montgomery and State of Indiana, haveinvented new and useful Improvements ingSeed-Separators, vof which the following is a specificaseed in having a surface coating which becomes mucilaginous when moistened, and to which sawdust will adhere. It is an espe cial object of my invention to provide novel and improved means for moistening the sawdust, mixing it with the seed so that it will form a coating for the mucilaginous seed thereby producing a ball of larger size than the clover seed. lVith my new apparatus, the wet seed is thoroughly mixed first andjgiven ample time' for the water to set in the mucilaginousseed. It is then quickly dropped into hot sawdust and rapidly spread over an upper shaker shoe where it rolls over and over, the mucilaginous seed gathering into balls large enough to easily pass over screens with larger perforations, than has been possible with former methods. It is further my object to provide a novel fanning arrangement utilizing an exhaust fan and a blower and a'large sawdust collector. Withjthe novel fanning construction which I have devised the separation of the sawdust from the seed is performed more effectively and the necessity for a second cleaning of the seed in a separate machine, which has heretofore been necessary,is now eliminated.

It is further my object to provide a novel construction and arrangement of shaker shoes and conveyers, which run more smoothly than the seed separating table heretofore used and make less noise and require less horse power. It is .further my object to provide a machine of novel construction so arranged as to greatly increase its capacity and permit of successful operation with less interference from unfavorable weather conditions.

Specification of LettersPatent. I A ujog glf 1 No. 169,540. Divided and thi application filed 1 1 7 1311 'S eria1No.182,326 v a c. 1 V

It is an object of myin'vention to provide novel and improved means for drying the sawdust which isto be mixed with the seed.

' It is further-my object to provide a;ma- V J chine having a comparatively small number of parts,"whereby ,to lessen the expense of construction and repairs.

'NVith these and other objects in view,""I provide the mechanism illustrated in the ac companyingdrawings, in which Figure I is a side elevation of the entire machine; a i a l Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the entire machine f i 'i I i Fig. 3 is a horizontal seotion'on line 3+3 of'Fi'g. 2,a portion being brokenaway' to show the arrangementof members L; and Fig.4 is a horizontal section'on line 4-4: of Fig. 1. i

like parts throughout the several view'sj Referring to the accompanying drawings,

I provide a pipe Q, through which the saw dust is blown'to thedust collector R, from whence it is delivered to the pans A. There area pluralityof these pans arranged in superposed relation. I provide endless chains P which carry spaced across-bars vO so disposed as to sweep over the pans as the endless chains are operated. I' provide a steam pipe Kthroughwhich steam is delivpans is delivered to conveyer D, also a spiral conveyer by which it is carried to one end and delivered to conveyer F, the seed in conveyer-E similarly being deliveredto conveyer -F. Seed andsawdust are mingled in Like characters of reference designate conveyer F and from it are delivered to bonveyer Y. Conjveyer Y differs from conveyers C, D, E and F'in'being a two-way con- 7 veyer, as;illustrated in Fig. 4. Thesawdust and seed whichby this timeare well mixed are dropped onto a novel shaken pan Gr of stepped construction," as shown in Fig. 2. From pan G the seed and sawdust are gradually shaken down to inclined platform V.

: aboutit-and is'too-large to pass through the screening 6 flows into a spiral conveyer l, which carries it out of themachine. The smaller seed whichis non-mucilaginous falls readily through the screen to the bottom of grain shoe H and flows through spout 7 into the pipe or conduit U. Members G and V are both supported by a flexible bar'l at one end, while member G is supported by a flexible bar 2- at the other end and member V by flexible bar 3, at the corresponding end which is the front of the machine. These members'aresuspendedby flexible bars to permit of theirbeing given a vibratory or shaking movement. Similarly, grain chute H is suspended from the frame of the machine by flexible bars 4 and 5. A vibratory movement to members G, and H is communicated by eccentricrods W, preferably shaped as shown in Fig. 2, which are operated by eccentrics X, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

40- tion designated S. At this point the driv Referring to Fig. 2, there is illustrated novelmeans for separating the sawdust and seedand-for returning the sawdust to the dust collector R and thence to the pans A where it is used over againa I provide a pipe U, at the lower end of which is a blower fan J driven at such speed as to force a current of air that will carry the sawdust and seed up the pipe to approximately the poring force of the blower is superseded by the suction fromvan exhaust fan B disposed in the upper portion of pipe U, as illustrated in the drawings. A suitable valve T is provi'ded in pipe U immediately below the narrow portion S ofpipe U, and just above a discharge chute 9 opening out of pipe U. I also provide a suitable valve or vane Z, consisting of a metal plate of the shape shown in the drawings and extending the full length across the conduit and working ona pivot in order that it may be adjusted to stay the flow of seed to'better advantage and aid the lower fan J in making the separation. The position of member Z is changed but littleand while it may regulate the current of air to a certain extent I do not, considerv it as an air regulator as its primary function is to break up the force of the seed and aid the separation at this point. In my machine the. small seeds and sawdust both come over in great volumeand the seed from the shaker is dropped acrossthe blast and partly stopped in its way by the metal valve Z, which causes a distinct separation. The operation is aided by the bounclng of the seed upon memberZ, thefan J breaking up the flow of seed and aiding in the separation. The separation of the light from the heavier particles takes place entirely in my conduit S, theheavy material dropping below and the light being carried up into the exhaust fan B, and sweptalong to the dust collector R. I may provide a discharge chute 9 into which seed may fall. 'Valves Z and T may be adjusted by any suitable means such as by projecting knobs or handles.

. The operation of the machine has been described in connection with the foregoing explanation of its construction. By providing the series of superposed pans, the capacity of the machine has been greatly in creased. larger perforations and the employment of my improved method of mingling the seed and sawdust has also made it possible'to operate on a much larger quantity of seed than heretofore. The shaker shoes and conveyers which have taken the place of the tableemployed in former seed separating machines provide an important improvement in that they run twice as smoothly, with very little noise and require less horse power. The employment of the novel arrangement of a combined blower and exhaust fan makes it possible to effect a more complete and thorough separation of seed from sawdust. I/Vith the new method, the wet seed is thoroughly mixed first and given ample time for the water to set in the mucilaginous seed. It is then quickly dropped into hot sawdust and rapidly spread over the upper shaker platform where it rolls over and over from step to step downwardly. This enables the mucilaginous seed to collect about it a coatingfof sawdust so as to form balls large enough to easily pass over the screen which has larger perforations than has been possible with former, machines, thus causing a more effective separation of the useful nonmucilaginous clover seed from the mucilaginous and undesirable buckhorn and other weed seeds.

What I claim is:

1. In a seed separating machine, the combination of a lower blower fan, 'an upper exhaust'fan. an inclined conduit extending between and connecting the fans, a valve positioned to receive and break up the flow of seeds entering the conduit, a discharge spout positioned to receive the heavy material, a second discharge spout for seeds of medium grade, the lightest material being sucked upward by the current created by the exhaustfan, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for separating heavy seeds into one gradeand lighter seeds into a single distinct grade, the combination of a blower fan, an exhaust fan positioned above the blower fan, an inclined conduit directly connecting the two fans, the aforesaid conduit being of substantially the same cross sectional area, a feedingchute opening into the conduit above the blower fan and'supplying the seed in a layer so that an even bination of a blower fan, an exhaust fan in elevated position, a conduit directly connecting the two fans, the said conduit being of substantially the same cross sectional area throughout, a discharge conduit opening out of the aforesaid conduit, a seed feeding chute opening into the first mentioned conduit at a point above the blower fan the seed being supplied to the blast in an even layer, a seed separating valve positioned beneath the feeding chute and above the blower fan to receive the outflow of seeds from the chute, a conduit for the discharge of the lightest weight material into drying pans, substantially as set forth.

4. In fan mechanism for separating seeds into two distinct grades, the combination of a blower fan, an elevated exhaust fan, a conduit directly connecting the two fans, a seed feeding chute opening into the aforesaid conduit, a valve positioned below the said chute and above the blower fan to. receive the outflow of seeds from the chute and for separating the heavy and light material, a discharge conduit positioned above the aforesaid valve for the discharge of medium weight seeds from the main conduit, a second discharge conduit positioned below the valve for the discharge of heavy material, the lightest material bein sucked up by the exhaust fan, and means for conveying said light material from the exhaust fan, substantially as shown.

5. In a seed separating machine, the combination of an upper exhaust fan, a lower blower fan, an inclined conduit directly connecting the two fans, a seed chute open ing into the aforesaid conduit above the blower fan, a valve positioned below said chute to receive the outflow of seeds from "he chute and for separating seeds entering the chute, discharge chute openings out of the conduit for the discharge of seeds in two distinct grades, arranged as described.

6. In a seed separating machine, the combination of an exhaust fan in elevated position, a lower blower fan, an inclined conduit leading from one fan to the other, a dis charge conduit for the heaviest material, a seed chute opening into the conduit, a sec ond discharge conduit for the discharge of medium weight material, said conduit being connected with the main conduit above the seed supply chute, an adjustable valve positioned below the seed chute, to receive the outflow of seeds from the chute and means for adjusting said valve, substantially as set forth. I

7. In a seed separating machine, the combination of an exhaust fan, an inclined conduit directly connecting the exhaust fan with a blower fan, a blower fan, a seed supply chute opening into the conduit ashort distance above the blower fan, a valve positioned below said chute to receive the outflow of seeds from the chute and for separating the seed, a plurality of discharge spouts opening-out of the conduit for the collection of seeds of different grades and weights, the separation of the seeds being effected by the aforesaid valve and by the current of air holding the seed in temporary suspension at a point to permit the lighter material being sucked up by the exhaust fan and the heavier medium grade seeds being discharged through the adjacent discharge spout, arranged as described and for 'the purposes specified.

8. In a seed separating machine, the combination of an upper exhaust fan, a lower blower fan, a conduit directly connecting the two fans, a seed supply chute opening into said conduit, a discharge spout opening out of the conduit above said seed supply chute, a valve for effecting separation of the seed, positioned below the seed supply chute and above the blower fan to receive the outflow-of seeds from the chute, means for regulating the opening into the aforesaid discharge spout, the conduit connecting the two fans being of substantially the same cross sectional area throughout, for the purposes described;

9. In a seed separating machine, the combination of an upper exhaust fan, a lower blower fan, a conduit directly connectingthe two fans, said conduit being of substantially" HAROLD LINE GRAY.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner or Patents, Washington, I). 0." 

